Matting.



C. H. OAKLEY.

MATTING. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 8, 1910. .Y

' Patented July 11, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. H. OAKLEY.

MATTING.

v APPLIOATION FILED AUG. a, 1910.

997,319. PatenteaJu'lylLwu.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. 'IIIIIIlIIIlIIIll-lg j UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

` cmronn H.- OAKLEY, or TnENToN, -NEw JERSEY.

Mamme.

997,319. I `Slieciilcation of Letters Patent.

' Application mea Augusta, 1am. seran 110.576,262.

To au whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD H. OAKLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resi` dent of. the city of Trenton, in the State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Matting, of which the following isa specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a art hereof.'

The object of t e invention is to provide a sectional matting, that is one composed of separate pieces, which shall beeasy to assemble so that a mat of any size or shape may be quickly put together; lwhichshall lend itself readily to the incorporation of various designs and lettering; which shall be easy to re air and to dis-assemble for the purpose o substituting new sections for worn out ones; and which shall be conveniently flexible and foldable for the purpose of storing and transportation.

In the drawings, which showlseveralv embodiments of the improvements, Figures 1 4 are plan views illustrating different forms, Fig. 1 being broken away to show the fastening and strengthening ribs more clearly. Figs. 5 and 6v are end views respectivey corresponding to Figs. 3 and` 4. Fig. 7 is a plan view of still another modification. Fig. 8 is a similar-view illustrating the use of units each embodying two colors, in the formation of letters or designs. Figs. 9 and 10 are detail viewsof one of the fastening' rods and collars. .Figs 11 and 12 are respectively.. plan and side views, vpartly broken away, of one of the 'units employed to constitute the matting. Fig. 13 is a plan view showing such a unit with a corrugated surface,` and, Figs 14 and 15 are respectively a top plan and a sectionalfview of a lunit having a metallic tread -piece embedded therein.

From Fig. 1, which vembodies what is considered to be the preferable form of the improved matting, it will be seen that each `unit a thereof is provided with a strengthening rib b, of steel wire or some other suitable material, which is embedded therein and the ends of which project from the opposite ends of the unit as two eyes c. It will also be seenl that the units are arranged in columns and rows, or what is the Same thing,

alined lengthwise and crosswise, 'and that between eachA column a rod d is passed through the" eyes presented thereto by .the

ends of the 'units' which oppose'or face each other.

It is not necessary, lof course, in carrying out thel invention, to arrange the units a in columns and rows;` and, in fact, for purp oses of designing or embodying in the matting some form of ornamentation or letter ing, a staggered arrangement-may be pref# erable to one in whichvthe alinement is preserved up and down or across, or both up and down ,and-across; but from the standpoint of assembling, it is simpler to have the column arrangement vas shown in Fig. 1

4than the staggered arrangement, for instance, of Fig. Y7. VThe assembling in the case of the form shown in Fig. 1 may be done by simply laying vthe units in long Patented July 11, 1911.

grooves provided in assembling frames (not shown), and.v then running `the rds d lthrough the eyes c which latter are brought into alinement by therelative location of the grooves; and finally, securing fastening collars e to the ends of the rods. The whole operation of assembling [only requires a few moments even for a large'size mat. If an end or finishing strip of tapering-form is to be applied, this may be done conveniently bymaking such strip in the form shown in Figs.4 and 6 where it will be seen to be provided withrecesses f upon its inner side, which register' withv the eyes 0 presented sol thereto by the side of the mat. Of course, i

it will be possible to apply separate tapering pieces insteadof the integral' strip, such a form being illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5.

Instead of finishing the-'sides of the mat by providing va tapering strip or stripsY the rods at thesides may be covered with tubular pieces g of rubber'or. other material, one such piece being arranged between each two adjacent'eyes. (See Figs. 1 and 2) For convenience in assembling and handling it is preferable to have the units a integrally united in groups of two, three, four or more, four being shown as so united in Fi 1. Fig. 2 shows the units separated,

an ,f in this condition they obviously lendw` v themselves to greater complexity of design and to more ready `assemblage into some units, or alinernent in rows, the eyes c are slightly offset from` the transverse center collarsgc upon the rods, the former are bored line through each unit. This may be done,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, by locatigthe rib b to one side of the transverse ycenter line or by running it through the unit diagonally, asshown in Figs. 11-15. Where the ribs are located along a line slightly,

Voffset from the center line, as in Fig. 1, the units in one column are arranged with the ribs slightly in advance of thecenter linev and in the two adjacent columns with the ribs slightly behind the center line, thus bringing the corresponding eyes into ank overlapping position so that their openings register, as shown. Where the arrangement shown in Figs. 11-15 is adopted, the eye on one side of a unit is slightly in advance of the center and the eve on the other side slightlyxbehind the center, so that vthe unitsf in each column are interchangeable without reversing. Y

It will be understood that a matting made in accordance A with the improvements is freely flexible and may be rolled up when not in use. If flexibility in more than one f directionis desired, the rods. d may be divided at suitable intervals and links It inserted (see Fig. 3). In order to secure the radiallyY as at i to a diameter greater than 'that of the rods, and, when a collar has been placed upon arod, a suitable tool is inserted through the radial bore i and by means of a blow the metal 'of the rod is spread or expanded into the bore i, as at m., (See Figs. 9 and 10).

The material of which the units are composed may be selected with regard to the use which is to be made of the matting.

-For general use, rubber will ordinarily be found preferable. Fig. 13 illustrates a rub` b'er unit with a corrugated face or tread n and a monogram 0. In Figs. 14 and 15, a metallic piece, such as a lead disk p, is shown inserted or embedded in the rubber with its face Hush with the tread surface of the rubber, so as to form a .non-slipping tread. Insuch a case, for the purpose of assembling the'parts' the lead disk isformed with a slot 1' which ts overV the rib b, the slot facing the underside of the unit, so that the tread surface of the disk is unbroken. In Fig. 8, the units a are indicated as being of two different colors, as may be desirable for the Vformation of some letters or for some designs.

In any embodiment'of the invention, it

should be observed that the rods d and ribs b will form a frame or skeleton for the tread pieces or units a, the latter simply clothing the ribs and not being subjected' to any strains whatever as all the strains are borne entirely by the frame. It should be observed, too, that each rib, running as it does from end to'end inthe corresponding tread piece, constitutes a sort of back-bone for such piece.. The lat-ter, in other words, is built npr-around orv formed upon this rib and-is thus not only strengthened and sup ported thereby but its shape is eii'ectively preserved; It will beobvious .that where the tread 'pieces are made out of soft rubber as is generally the case, some sort of shape` reserving means .must be provided, and la 4single rib, such-.as a piece of wire extending from end tof end, furnishes a particularly simple and convenient means of this sort.

In. the-present case, where' these ribs are provided with eyes at Veither end to consti-- tutepart of the fastening means whereby the several -units'are attached together, the construction of the matting is rendered particularly simpleand convenient.

It will .be-understood that various other modificationsV of theinvention are possible,

.eyes in the ends facing eachother, and fastening collars upon the. rods bored radially, the said rods bemg expanded into the bores to retain the collars.

2. In a matting, the combination of a plurality of4 rubber pieces constituting the matting proper, a metallic piece embedded in each rubber piecev and having a slot, and a transverse rib also embedded in each rub ber piece and extending through the slot in the corresponding metallic piece.

3. A mat comprisinga frame of rods and ribs, land a plurality of tread pieces, the latter being arranged longitudinally around the ribs each ofwh-ich thereby forms a backbone for the-correspondingltread piece, and

thev rods running transversely of the ribs to l l unite the same together.

4'. The combination of va Vskeleton for a matting comprising a plurality of parallel ribs having looped ends, and rods arranged transversely of the ribs and passing `through the loops to unite the ribs together, and a plurality of tread pieces'pin which theribs are embedded longitudinally to constitute means for preserving the shapeof as well as strengthening and supporting means for the tread pieces.-

5. The combination of a metallicskeleton "together, vand a plurality of` soft rubber for .a matting comprising a lurality of as strengthening and supportingmeans for parallel wires having looped en s, and rods said pieces. f i arranged transversely of the wires and pass- Tlus s eciicat-ion signed and witnessed v ing through the loops to unite -the wires ,this 5th ay of August A. D. 1910.

v CLIFFORDII. GAKLEY, `pieces in which the ribs are embeddedlongi- Signed in the presence ofw tudinally to constitute means for preserv- JOHN W. THOMPSON,

ing the shape of the rubber pieces as well LUGIUs E. VARNEY. 

